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It isn't one blistery hot summer day that wears me down physically as much as a heat wave that lasts day after day and week after week. Nor is it one gray winter day with temperatures below zero that depresses me. Rather it is the ongoing frigid weather with no sight of spring on the horizon that takes its toll on my spirit. In the same way, it isn't one bad day or week that erodes my strength. Rather it's facing the same problem, the same relational issue, or the same ongoing hassles month after month with no resolution in sight.
Sometimes the things that wear me down are small, like a recent printer issue I could not fix. At other times, what zaps my strength is big, like months of aggressive treatments for breast cancer. More than once, I said, "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I'm sick and tired of all the needles, the nausea and the utter fatigue." I wanted it all to be history. Over. Done. When that did not happen, I felt like Jack Nicholson's character in the movie The Bucket List. At one point, after repeatedly throwing up after yet another chemo treatment, he says, "Somewhere some lucky guy is having a heart attack."
Whenever we've been knocked flat on our backs and feel sick and tired of being sick and tired, it's important not to minimize how prolonged, unresolved, stress-filled circumstances wear us down and can lead to hopelessness. The path to renewing our hope comes by focusing on and trusting in God. He can give us the strength to keep on and go the distance even when we can't.
"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised" (Hebrews 10:35-36 NIV).
Reflection for Gaining More: What words in the verses above jump out at you? What does God want you to see about your need for endurance?
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